Three Piece: Saga of the Triforce Pirates
by YHWHsAceOfBlades
Summary: When an aspiring pirate captain washes up in a barrel on Tetra's home of Windfall Island, an adventure filled with danger, romance, and a little insanity is about to begin in the search for the legendary treasure Three Piece. Somewhat AU, lots of OC's
1. Chapter 1: Beginnings

_**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or The Legend of Zelda**_

**_Also, Tetra doesn't have a Zelda identity in this story. Anyway, enjoy!_**

_Caw! Caw! Caw!_

Seagulls could be heard in the skies above Windfall Island. They danced and swerved with the wind to hold them high above the waters of the Great Sea. Below them on the shoreline sat a young girl of around 12 years of age with bright yellow hair, some of it streaming down the sides of her face, a good deal of the rest tied up in a spiraling bun of sorts. She looked out onto the sea with a look of longing.

_What I'd give to sail the seas,"_ she thought," _seeing the world, finding treasure… __living the life of a Peace Maine pirate…"_

"Hey, Tetra!" A child's voice interrupted her thoughts. She turned to see four boys a few years younger than herself running to where she was. She could tell what they wanted by the looks on their faces.

"Hey," said Ivan, the boy who had called her just earlier, "want to play hide and seek?" Tetra smirked, already expecting this. The Killer Bees(or at least Ivan) almost always wanted to play hide and seek at least every other day, with Ivan always claiming to have a new hiding place where she would never find him(only to be proved wrong later each time). "Sure." Tetra replied still smirking, "I'll be glad to find you again." "Ha-ha, funny, Tetra, funny." shot back Ivan with sarcasm in his voice, "This won't be like all the other times. This time, I've got the PERFECT hiding place!" "That's what you said all the other times." Tetra replied. "Whatever." said Ivan, "This place is so secret… uh… ah MAAAN!"

"Whoa, what's up?" asked Tetra, surprised by his sudden irritation, "Something wrong?" Ivan looked away, embarrassment written all over his face. "I… uh… I forgot where it was." Tetra doubled over in laughter. "Must be a pretty good one if YOU can't even find it!" Ivan's face got redder every second. Jan and Jun-Roberto, two of the Killer Bee members, tried to control their laughter (emphasis on tried), while Jin, a third member, stood silently, staring out at the sea.

Ivan noticed this, and turned to him. "Hey, what are you staring at?" Jin said nothing. Instead, he simply pointed out to the object in question. Ivan scanned the blue waters for a moment. "Where is it? I don't see… hey, look!"

The others turned to see, a good distance from the shore, a large, brown, cylindrical object floating adrift, tossed around by the gentle waves.

"What is that?" asked Jan, squinting his eyes to try to get a better view. Even though none of them could make it out at the moment, it was clear the waves were slowly pushing it to shore. After a few minutes of staring, Tetra realized what it was.

"It's a barrel." she concluded, "It probably fell off a ship or something." "Cool!" said Ivan, "Let's grab it and see what's in it!" Ivan was about dive into the water, but Tetra stopped him by grabbing his shoulder. "Whoa, hold up, Ivan. You'll get soaked if you go after it, and I'm sure your mom won't like that. Just wait for it to come." Ivan crossed his arms and pouted.

After what seemed like hours, the barrel finally made it to shore. Ivan eagerly grabbed the side and attempted to pull it on to the sand, but with no success. "This thing is heavy!" he grunted, "Come on, help me out!" Tetra, Jin, Jan, and Jun-Roberto each got a hold of it, and, after a good deal of straining, pulling, and pushing, they managed to get it upright. All five stopped to rest, trying to catch their breath. After a few minutes, Tetra got up off the ground and searched the sides of the barrel. "That's odd." she noted, "It doesn't say what ship it belongs to." "Yes!" said Ivan with glee, "It's ours for the taking!" Tetra was about to shoot Ivan a disapproving glare, but realized he was right: any cargo not able to be identified as belonging to anyone was fair game (with the exception of cargo that is carried only by a particular race, shipping route, etc.). She proceeded to remove the lid, but just like Ivan earlier, she was unsuccessful. It was stuck tight. "You've got to be kidding me…" she said, exasperated. She was about to head to Zunari's shop to ask for a crowbar, when a gruff, familiar voice asked, "Mind if I help, Miss Tetra?"

It was Dampa, a sailor resident to Windfall Island. He had noticed the struggling kids as he was chasing down his pet pigs (for the 200th time), and was curious see what they were up to.

"No, not at all. That'd be great, thanks." Tetra replied. Dampa walked up to the barrel, observed it for a moment, and asked, "Where'd you guys find this?" "It was floating in the ocean." said Ivan, "We got it when it washed up." Dampa nodded in understanding. "Well, then," he said, "let's crack this egg open." With that, he cracked his knuckles and took a stance, preparing to smash it open with his bare fist. The Killer Bees's eyes widened with excitement (except for Jin, who just looked on). Dampa paused to drink in the hero worship, then raised his fist and brought it down.

Then the unexpected happened.

Dampa was halfway there when something, no, someONE, erupted from inside the barrel, raising his arms in triumphant fashion… and punching Dampa square in the jaw in the process.

Dampa flew up a good 3 feet in the air before landing on his back, and lay there motionless. Tetra and the Killer Bees stared, in utter shock and with dropped jaws, at the sudden newcomer. He was a boy not much older than Tetra, with wild beige hair.

It was at this point that Tetra's life changed forever.

**_Cool Facts!_**

**_Dampa is an actual character in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker._**

**_Please review!_**


	2. Chapter 2: Welcoming

The beige-haired boy stood there with a humongous grin on his face, as if he was on top of the world. He wore a white T-shirt with what looked like a logo in the form of a red anchor on it, with the very word "ANCHOR" over it, colored dark blue. The edges of the short sleeves and neck were colored dark blue as well. He also wore around his neck a necklace with a golden triangle made up of three smaller ones hanging from it- the symbol of the Triforce.

"That nap was great!" he said, his voice resonating with enthusiasm, "Now to… eh?" He cut himself off, as he opened his eyes to see not the expanse of the Great Sea he was expecting, but a… town?

After looking around in confusion for a second, he noticed an unconscious Dampa lying on the sand. "Whoa," he wondered aloud, "what happened to him?"

"YOU KNOCKED HIM UNCONSCIOUS!" yelled the Killer Bees in unison, shocked by his lack of awareness of what had just happened. Tetra just stood there dumbfounded. The boy turned to see four young boys and a… his mind went numb on the sight of the fifth person.

"Who…who ARE you?" asked Tetra, who was a little scared of him at the moment. Who could blame her, considering that he just KO'd a full-grown man in one punch without even knowing it?

He didn't answer, but just continued to stare at her, with a look of awe. Tetra frowned, her cautionary fear turning into annoyance. "Hey, anyone there?" She waved a hand in front of his face, snapping out of his stupor. The boy blinked a couple times, and answered, "Oh, yeah, sorry 'bout that... uh… oh yeah, your question!" He regained his large smile. "The name's Aijoo. Nice to meet you." He then jumped out of the barrel… and onto Dampa's rousing body. "OOPH!... hey, kid, what gives!" "Oh, sorry. Forgot you were there." Tetra and the Killer Bees stood there in shock. "ALREADY!"

After stepping off of Dampa's person, Aijoo surveyed the town. "Nice place." He commented, "Um… mind if I ask where I am?" "Windfall Island." Tetra replied, "So… what were you doing inside a barrel?" He turned to face her. "Me? Oh, well, I was sailing in my boat when I got caught in a storm, and… well, long story short, I'm drifting in this." said Aijoo, motioning towards the barrel. Tetra nodded.

"So what were you doing out on the sea anyway?"

"Looking for a crew." he replied.

"A… crew?" asked Tetra, tilting her head with a confused expression, "What do you need a crew for?"

Aijoo smiled big. "I'm gonna need a good crew…"- he paused as if for dramatic effect- "if I'm gonna be the best pirate there is!"

"YOU'RE A PIRATE!" screamed the Killer Bees, now sounding rather hoarse from all the yelling. "You bet!" he answered, "Just think of all the adventure, and the treasure, and the… uh… other cool stuff! I'm getting excited just thinking about it!"

"So I take it you're a Peace Maine?" asked Tetra. Aijoo nodded, "Treasure is nice and all, but the real fun's in the adventure!" "Peace… Maine?" Jun-Roberto asked, unfamiliar with the term, "Just what on earth is a Peace Maine?"

"There are two types of pirates," Tetra began, "Peace Maines and Morgania. The Morgania are the ones who steal and plunder, usually for their own gain. They generally don't care about anyone else other than themselves." Peace Maines, on the other hand, are pretty much the opposite. They earn their treasure either by taking it from enemies as spoils or finding it. They're really more adventurers than anything else."

Tetra then turned to Aijoo. "So, your own pirate crew, huh?" She said it with a slightly depressed tone. Aijoo noticed, and was about ask her if she was okay when a rumbling, growling noise interrupted him.

Aijoo realized it was the sound of his own stomach, and gave an embarrassed smile. " Heh heh… guess it's been a while since I last ate."

"You can eat at my house." said Tetra, "Mom always welcomes Peace Maine pirates." "Really? Wow, thanks!" said Aijoo. He then grasped her wrist, which surprised her a bit, and started half-dragging half pulling her towards town, with her house as his destination.

"Oh no prob- wait, Aijoo, you're going the wrong way!" He stopped and looked at her, confused. Tetra pointed in another direction. "It's that way" she said. "Oh, thanks, Tetra." Aijoo said. With that, he let go of her and started walking in the right direction.

**Yeah, the chapters are kind of short, but they'll probably get longer as the story progresses. And of course, please review!**

**_The Truth is..._**

**Aijoo's outfit is the same as Luffy's in his childhood**

**Peace Maine and Morgania are terms used in the Romance Dawn series of One Piece. The definition for Peace Marine is slightly altered in this story**


	3. Chapter 3: Wonder

"This place is awesome!"

Aijoo could hardly contain his excitement (if he was even trying to) as he and Tetra walked through the town's roads. He oohhed and aahhed over everything of interest, (which almost WAS everything) making Tetra feel like she was leading a little kid through a candy store. The duo finally reached the stairs to her house.

Well, the stairs anyway.

"Is that the way to your house?" asked Aijoo, a little confused. He was referring to a marble white flight of stairs that lead up to a walkway connecting the stairs to a large, two-story house, also marble white. The walkway was above a street and lead to a door on the second floor.

"Yeah, that's it." Tetra said casually, as if the sheer size didn't indicate her high social status. Aijoo just gaped.

"Wow, uh… didn't know you were…"

"Rich? Yeah, I know. Most people don't think that from the way I look." She was referring to her outfit, which, admittingly, gave her the appearance of a commoner.

They trekked across the walkway to a elaborately designed door, complete with some of the finest architecture of its day, as well as the family crest above the doorway- the Triforce. Tetra remembered asking her mother about its significance when she was a little girl…

"_Mommy!" called a 4- year old Tetra, "Mommy, where are you?" Having just woken up and not finding her mother in the kitchen, she began searching the house. _

"_Mommy!"_

_After several minutes of fruitless searching, she started to become panicked. Where was she? She never left her alone in the house without telling her first…_

"_MOMMY!"_

_She checked every room, every closet, even in the dresser drawers, hoping to find the one person whose mere presence assured her that everything was okay, besides her father. Tetra wished he was here, but he was out at sea…_

_*Click*_

_Tetra spun to face the source of the disturbance: the door being unlocked. Now she was really freaking out, having no idea who it was. She was about to duck under the couch to hide, but it was too late: the door swung open, revealing…_

"_There you are, mommy!" She felt so happy to see her she ran up and almost tackled her loving mother to the ground. _

"_Well of course I am, sweetie. Didn't you read Mommy's note?" Her blonde daughter tilted her head, evidently confused. She didn't remember a note…_

"_Mommy" smiled and bent down to kiss her on the forehead. "I was about to make breakfast, but we were out of food, so I went and got groceries." She put down the bags she was holding and instead held her little girl in a hug. "I didn't want to wake you up early, so I left a note… guess you didn't see it, huh?" Tetra shook her head. "You must've been worried sick, you poor thing… but it's okay now, mommy's here…"_

_Tetra was resting her head on her mother's shoulders and, looking up, noticed the triangular symbol on the door. Curiosity suddenly welled up inside of her._

"_Mommy, why is that above the door?" Her mother broke the hug and gave her an inquisitive stare. "What's above the door?" She pointed to the object in question. "That,, Mommy. The triangle- thingy." Mom followed her finger to see what see was pointing to. When she saw it, she smiled again._

"_That, sweetie, is what's called the Triforce. Not only is it the family crest, but it serves as a worldwide symbol of the Ancient of Days."_

"_The who?"_

_Mom turned to look at her bright-eyed girl, still smiling. "The Ancient of Days is the God who created the world and all that live in it. He placed each star in the heavens, and maintains order in the universe. He is all-knowing, all-knowing, all-powerful, the sole Ruler of all that exists…"_

Tetra remembered being absolutely amazed at the might of such a being, and, now that she thought about it, still was…

She opened the door for her guest and walked in after him. Well, she would have, had he not stopped dead in his tracks at the doorway to gape some more at the house's luxurious interior. Tetra lightly pushed Aijoo to get him moving again, and after shutting the door, suddenly yelled, "MOM, I'M HOME! AND WE'VE GOT A GUEST!" startling poor Aijoo. A young woman with dark red hair looked up from her reading and gave Tetra a stern, but loving look that said, "Now, Tetra, you know better." She put down her book and rose from her chair, and stood with an elegant and graceful air. "There's no need to yell, sweetie." she said, "I'm not deaf, you know." She then noticed Aijoo, and gave him a warm smile. "You must be our guest." She held out her hand. "I am Tetra's mother, Lady Akemi, and, as of now, your hostess. We hope you enjoy your stay here."

"Umm… thank you." stammered Aijoo. He wasn't exactly sure how to properly respond, as he had no experience in dealing with those of the upper class, and didn't want to offend her. Lady Akemi noticed this, and gave another warm smile. "There's no need to be nervous. I welcome anyone who's friendly." Aijoo relaxed and shook her hand. "Name's Aijoo." he said, "You have a really nice place." Lady Akemi was about to thank him when-

*GRRRRRRUMMMMMBLE*

Aijoo's stomach had rudely interrupted her.

"I take it you're hungry." she said to an embarrassed Aijoo, "We'd love to have you for dinner, if you like."

His huge grin answered her question.

**Yes, I realize there's no action…YET. But please stay tuned (and review)!**

**Also, some cool facts!**

"**Akemi" is a name made by two combined Japanese words: "ake" (bright) and "mi" (beautiful) **

"**Aijoo" means love or affection **


	4. Chapter 4: Plotting

*GOBBLEGOBBLESNARFSLUUUURRRP*

"Aijoo…"

"Sorry."

He tried. He really did try. But the food… it was SOOOO good. Aijoo had never tasted anything this wonderful. For a moment he thought he was in heaven, which would explain a few things…

Like why Tetra looked like an angel…

Lady Akemi didn't seem to mind Aijoo's bad eating habits, though the same couldn't be said for her daughter. Though Tetra was being nice about it, she was starting to lose her patience. True, she herself was quite the tomboy, but she also liked to eat in peace.

*CHOMPCHOMPCHOMPGOBBLEGOBBLE*

"**Aijoo…"**

"Sorry."

Lady Akemi smiled at the scene playing out between the two. _"Oh, Tetra…"_ She then glanced at Aijoo, who was trying to stuff an entire turkey in his mouth without Tetra noticing. She wondered how Aijoo was able to eat so much at one time. Often times, she could see his neck bulge much larger than a normal person's whenever he swallowed something large, like the turkey he just ate (earning Aijoo another scolding). She wondered…

Then she noticed the emblem hanging from around his neck. _"What a nice…" _Her eyes widened and her heart skipped three beats.

Could it be..?

Lady Akemi quickly regained her composure and in her usual air of elegant grace…

"Aijoo, may I ask where you got that necklace?"

Aijoo looked up, an entire watermelon halfway in his mouth; his hunger was obviously getting the better of him. After somehow managing to swallow it whole (much to the shock of both his hostess and her daughter), he pointed to the Triforce around his neck. "This here?"

She nodded the affirmative.

He smiled as if he was reminiscing old memories, and for good reason…

"When I was a little kid ("Was?" muttered Tetra under her breath), I grew to admire a pirate by the name of Red-Haired Shanks."

Lady Akemi had to keep herself from choking on her food at the mention of his name. "Oh really?"

"Yeah. He was like a father to me, which was good, since my real dad was never around…

"Oh? What happened to him?"

"Beats me. The only one who seems to know anything about my parents is my adoptive father."

Tetra suddenly had a glum look on her face. Aijoo immediately noticed, but decided to ask about it later.

"Oh… I see. And who is your adoptive father?"

"Woop Slap, the mayor of Fuusha Village."

Both Lady Akemi and Tetra stopped and gave Aijoo confused stares. "Who?"

"Woop Slap. He's a pretty good guy.

"That's… interesting _(Who on Earth names their kid Woop Slap?)._"

"Anyway, Shanks would often stop at the village for supplies and such, so we grew pretty close. Especially after he saved me from both mountain bandits and a Sea King on the same day."

Again, Tetra and her mother stopped and stared.

"From a SEA KING? How did that happen?"

"Well, it all started when some bandits came into the juice bar we were in…

Out on Windfall Island's docks, a cargo ship, small for its kind, was being anchored, and the crew was beginning to gather their goods to sell. The ship had been through a lot, and it showed on its battered hull, covered in barnacles. The captain looked out over his busy crewmates and sighed. Finally, they were here. Not only could they load up their ship with profits, but they could also get rid of their rather bizarre passenger. In fact, said passenger was already walking on the docks toward town… backwards.

It was weird. Even though he was going backwards, his legs looked liked they were moving forward. Some of the crew who had witnessed this odd form of commuting described it as a moonwalk.

The passenger himself was a tall, lanky man who wore a long, deep- blue trench coat with a column of large gold rings where the buttons should be, on the right side of said coat. This column continued on his right sleeve. Accompanying his coat was a broad- rimmed hat of the same color. He wore heart- shaped red sunglasses and had on his chin what appeared to be the type of beard worn by Egyptian pharaohs. He made his way into town, hoping to find the Akemi residence before he began…

"Hey, mister, why ya walking funny?"

The stranger turned to see none other than Ivan and the Killer Bees. His face showed that he was rather irked at this young boy's question.

"This isn't funny. This is my style." he retorted.

"Well, your style's funny then."

The moonwalker's face twisted into a scowl. He did NOT appreciate this smart- aleck punk.

"You ought to watch your mouth, kid. You're talking to a professional hypnotist here."

"Whatever. Hypnotism's just a bunch of nonsense"

He grinned slightly. A perfect opportunity.

"I'll prove it to you." he said. He then took from out of his pocket a metal ring tied to a string. It wasn't much smaller than his hand and the edges looked rather sharp…

He held it up by the other end of the string and smiled somewhat deviously.

"You ready?"

The Killer Bees nodded. The way they saw it, nothing would happen and they would prove him wrong.

The hypnotist began slowly swinging the ring back and forth, back and forth, the four children's eyes following its mesmerizing movement. Soon their eyes glazed over, and it became evident that their awareness was dimmed.

"When I say one, two, Jango, you'll fall under my control. One… two… JANGO!"

There was a visible twitch in their eyes, and there they stood awaiting orders.

"Now listen up, squirts. I don't need you guys right now, so when I say…" He paused, trying to think of a good codeword to use. "… 'Thriller,' you'll follow my orders. Got that?

"We understand master." said the Killer Bees in a robotic voice.

"Good. Now… wake up!"

The foursome snapped out of their trance.

Hey… what happened?" asked a now- sleepy Jan.

"Sadly, nothing." lied the man in blue, "Hypnotism doesn't work on everybody… it sort of depends on the person…"

"So wait, it didn't work?" asked Ivan.

"I'm afraid not." replied the hypnotist in a tone of false depression.

"HA! Told ya so! C'mon, guys, let's go. We got better things to do."

As they walked off to do who knows what kind of mischievous hijinks, the stranger could hardly help but give an evil smile.

"_Four down, and the rest of the populace to_ _go…"_

**Ooooohhhh, suspense! Just what is this guy's evil plot?**

**For those of you who are curious as to the story about Shanks saving Aijoo, it's pretty much the same as the canon describes Shanks saving Luffy in the One Piece anime. If you don't know that part, go to the One piece wiki by typing 'one piece wiki' in your search engine (make sure it's not Wikipedia) and search 'Higuma' on said wiki. I didn't want to go into detail about it, since that would be a lot of talking and little plot development. Also, just to clarify, Tetra and Lady Akemi replace Mila and her father from The Wind Waker. Anyway, stay tuned and please review!**


	5. Chapter 5: Ambush

"So Shanks gave you the necklace when he left?"

"That he did. That way, I would remember my promise to him, to raise a mighty pirate crew."

It was late in the night when Aijoo finished his tale. The feast that had been laid out was by then consumed (mostly by Aijoo), and all three of them wanted to turn in for the night.

Aijoo was just starting to fade into sleep on the couch when Tetra suddenly gave a start.

"Mom! We forgot today's shipment! We'll have nothing to auction tomorrow night if we don't get it soon! Zunari's closes in ten minutes!"

Tetra was halfway to the door when her mother gently grabbed her arm. "Sweetie, you know how I don't like you walking all by yourself at night…"

"You hold auctions?" asked Aijoo, head tilted to the side.

"Yeah," said Tetra, "We hold them on the first floor. It's our only source of income…"

"Cool… Hey! How 'bout I get it for you?"

Aijoo started making for the door when Lady Akemi grabbed his arm in the same manner she had grabbed Tetra's… except it wasn't enough to stop him. He was surprisingly strong, and, being completely oblivious to her touch, pulled his kind hostess along with him, making her nearly fall flat on her face before her daughter caught HER arm and steadied her.

"Aijoo, please wait!"

He spun around. "Yes?"

"I believe it is best for you to stay… You only recently arrived here after all."

"No, it's okay. It's the shop just down the street, right?

"Yes, but…"

"Great! See ya later!" With that, Aijoo dashed out the door.

Tetra and Lady Akemi stared after him.

"Ya think he'll be okay?"

"I hope so…"

Aijoo ran down the road at breakneck speed, hoping to get the goods before it was too late. Since successful completion of this self- assigned task would, from the sound of it, save the family from financial difficulties, he hoped that maybe this would impress Tetra enough to get her to _like _him like him…

But he shook it off. Their livelihood was more important.

Abruptly, Aijoo skidded to a stop. "This can't be right… This way leads out to the docks." He began backtracking, saw an alleyway, took it, and soon ended up in front of a shop…but…

"This is the town bomb shop, so that's not it either… Aw, man… I think I'm lost…"

On the other side of town, much of the town's population stood motionless in a military formation, as a mysterious man in blue was detailing their instructions…

"… and then you finish them both off. Everyone got that?"

"Yes, master." They droned in reply.

"Good. Now get moving!"

They slowly ambled their way, like zombies, down the streets of Windfall Island, past the Café, past Zunari's shop, to their destination…

The auction house.

Tetra sat at the dining room table, impatiently drumming her fingers, while her mother had returned to the book she had been reading earlier._ "He should be back by now,"_ she thought, _"it's not even a minute away from here. He probably got lost… Figures."_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Sweetie…" "I'm on it, Mom." Tetra said, as if she read her mind. She quickly ran to the door. "It's about time." muttered Tetra as she opened the door to find not Aijoo, with the expected shipment, but instead the man who regularly donated it to them- Zunari.

"Oh! Uh… hi there." faltered Tetra, surprised to see the very man Aijoo sent himself to search for. It was odd, because he didn't usually do door- to- door services… "Not that I'm unhappy to see you, but I was expecting someone else…" Tetra's face then beamed. "Did you come to bring us our auction stock?" Her pleasant surprise turned into confusion as the parka- wearing shopkeeper stood there, unmoving, with glazed eyes staring into space.

"Hey, you okay there? You don't look so good…"

Suddenly, and without warning, Zunari lunged for her, barely missing her as she instinctively leaped out of the way. "Zunari, what's gotten into you!" Hearing the sound of clanging metal, she looked to the door to see other residents of the island, with the same glazed look on their faces, brandishing weapons ranging from clubs to axes to swords. They charged in to the auction house, and made a beeline straight to Tetra. She bolted to the back of the room, where Lady Akemi stood, absolutely flabbergasted by the sudden intrusion of this unexpected mob, comprised of their dearest friends.

"W- What are you doing?" asked the wealthy auction owner, "This-this isn't like you at all!" "Mom! Something's not right with them!" yelled her blonde daughter." She dug in her pocket and pulled out three short sticks. By connecting them end- to- end, she formed a long pole- a bo staff.

Weapon in hand, she took a fighting stance as Zunari attempted a second charge, only to be knocked unconscious in a single blow to the head.

Her next opponent was Cannon, owner of the bomb shop. His weapons of choice were, unsurprisingly, bombs. He tossed one, aimed dead at her face, but it was deflected by Tetra's staff down to the first floor, exploding midair. She countered by sweeping his legs off the floor, causing him to smash his head into a nearby end table, K.O.'ing him as well-.

"TETRA, BEHIND YOU!"

Lady Akemi's warning couldn't have been timelier, for when Tetra whirled around, she came fact- to- face with none other than Dampa, one of his burly arms reaching for her throat. With lightning-speed reflexes, she jabbed in the stomach with the staff… which did absolutely nothing. Tetra looked up at him, and her eyes widened in fear.

"Uh-oh…"

Dampa then grabbed the weapon and tossed it into the air, taking a surprised Tetra with it. She yelped, flailing frantically for something grab onto, but there wasn't exactly anything within her reach, being in midair.

Before she could land on the auction house's lavishly carpeted floor, Dampa, with one muscular arm, grabbed her by the back of her shirt collar. Tetra struggled to free herself, dangling from the sailor's iron grasp.

"L-Let me go!" shouted Tetra, as her mother endeavored to escape her own captors, but both of their efforts were in vain.

"What is the meaning of this!" asked an indignant Lady Akemi, "We always helped you in times of need…"

"There's really no point in asking them." interrupted a seemingly disembodied voice, "All they can hear are my orders."

Both women jolted in surprise at the first sound of speech other than their own that they had heard since the ambush started, and turned to see a tall, lanky man dressed mostly in blue, with a pendulum swinging in his hand, his mouth curled into a wicked smile.

"Hello, there. You must be Lady Akemi. I'm here to discuss some… business."

**FINALLY, some action! Anyway, thanks to SoftcoreOtaku for reviewing (a little late, I know. I should have done that earlier). I appreciate it. Stay tuned and please review!**


	6. Chapter 6: Surprise!

Aijoo was getting annoyed.

He had passed by the jail at least twelve times, and he still hadn't found the shop yet. He was almost beginning to wonder if there even WAS a shop in the first place, other the bomb-shop he had passed earlier (eight times).

"_C'mon, THINK! There's gotta be somewhere I haven't looked-_ WAAAHHH!" *WHUMP*

Aijoo picked himself up after tripping over…

"'To the Akemies.' Hey! This must be their stuff!"

It was indeed their auction stock, sitting on the ground in front of a long counter. Aijoo looked up to see "Zunari's" written on an overhanging sign._ "Must be the place."_ he deduced, _"Guess the shopkeeper's not here."_ Shrugging, he gathered up the parcel, but…

"Finally! Now to take it to Tetra's…"

Then realization struck him.

"Wait… where IS Tetra's house? Aw, maaaan…"

"Say WHAT!"

"You heard me. I'm changing the will"

Tetra couldn't believe what was coming out of this oddly dressed man's mouth. Every vein and artery in her body felt like they would explode from rage.

"You've gotta be kidding me! You are NOT changing the will, you blind jerk! Not if I can help it!" With that she flailed and thrashed with all the strength she could muster, but to no avail. It wasn't that she was greedy, but that her mother had worked so hard to get them to where they were financially… she didn't want all that work to be in vain, because of some jerk that had somehow turned the entire town against them.

"Well, let's get started…"

The blue- coated Jango sauntered up to Lady Akemi, who was sitting on the couch, held down by Dampa's other arm, and dangled a pendulum in front of her face.

"Now, if this is going to work, we need to do this in YOUR handwriting…"

That's when it became clear to Tetra.

"MOM! The guy's a hypnotist! Look away! Look…"

"You! Big guy! Shut her up!"

Dampa looked around, trying to find a solution to his master's command. Not finding any, he improvised… by burying Tetra's face into his chest. She immediately began gasping for air, partially because she could no longer breathe, but mainly because… well, Dampa evidently didn't shower very often.

With that annoyance no longer disturbing his work, Jango had Gillian, the café owner, restrain Lady Akemi's head, and began swaying the metal ring back and forth, back and forth, back and forth… Soon, the wealthy auctioneer's expression began to go blank.

"Now listen here. When I say, 'One, two, Jango,' you're going to follow EVERY order I give, got that? One… two…

"Hey, everyone, I'm finally… back?"

Jango whirled around, his face contorted with shock, to see none other than a bewildered Aijoo standing at the door, while holding the sought- after package of goods.

"Hey, what's going on here?" questioned Aijoo, clearly confused by the sudden influx of people since he last left.

"Run, Aijoo!" exclaimed Lady Akemi, now out of her trance, "It's a…"

"… Going- away party!" interrupted Jango, blocking her from sight and anxiously motioning Gillian to silence Tetra's mother' "For…uh… the Akemies! Yeah.

Aijoo's expression became immediately sorrowful.

"Going… away?"

"Yeah, to their graves- er, I mean, their, uh… gravely important… uhhh… business trip! Yeah, business trip. You know, important stuff."

Aijoo turned to Lady Akemi and with hung head and stifled tears, said, "No one told me *sniff* you guys were leaving…" The hostess would have warned Aijoo, were it not for Gillian's arms being clamped around her jaw, which Aijoo took as a hug.

Jango now saw another perfect opportunity.

"Hey, kid, don't be so blue." he said, suddenly remembering that he himself was wearing blue. "Well, uh, don't be so sad anyway… 'cuz I'm the entertainment!"

"You are?" asked Aijoo, his depression giving away somewhat to his newfound curiosity.

"Yes, sir, I am. How would you like to be hypnotized?"

Tetra now was thrashed like mad, trying to warn Aijoo (and get some fresh air), but she only managed to get a breath before she was once again smothered by Dampa's chest.

Meanwhile, Jango was preparing to "perform" for a willing Aijoo. "This is so cool!" exclaimed Aijoo, now over his depression, "I always wanted to know what it was like to be hypnotized."

Jango suddenly stopped. "Well… you won't know what it's like." he said. "You'll be hypnotized."

"Oh… well, never mind, then."

"NEVER MIND!"

"Well, yeah. There's not really any point if you don't even know what's going on, right?"

Jango had to admit, he couldn't really argue with that kind of logic.

That's when Aijoo realized…

"Wait a minute…"

He quickly scanned the room, and then looked behind the mindless residents, as if he was looking for something. Jango became tense; he had to think of some way to convince him to join the ranks of his little "army," so that there would be no witnesses. Accomplishing that, however, would be difficult, given the circumstances. Aijoo gave up his search, and then gave Jango an angry, suspicious glare.

"Something isn't right…"

"_You mean you just now realized that?"_ thought Tetra to herself.

After what seemed like a full minute of giving Jango the most unnerving stare the moonwalker had ever seen, Aijoo spoke again.

"Something isn't right… Where's the food?"

Tetra would have face palmed herself at this point, if her face wasn't still obstructed.

Jango was just dumbfounded. "T-The food?"

"Yes, the food. What kind of party doesn't have food? From the looks of it, there's no sign there ever WAS food to begin with, seeing as there aren't any tables out. What REALLY going on, mister?"

Seeing that he was now exposed, he wretched Tetra out of Dampa's grasp. Tetra was overjoyed that she was now free of that horrid stench. Sadly her joy was short-lived as the razor- sharp edge of Jango's pendulum pressed itself against her neck.

The hypnotist stood smirking, and for good reason. He had the upper hand now, courtesy of Tetra being his hostage. Not that he was open to open to sparing the girl's life. She had to "bite the dust," so to speak, if the plan was to be a success.

Aijoo, however, would not stand for this. His voice shaking with rage, he hissed, "Let… her…go."

"Pffft, or what?"

"Or this." Aijoo pulled back his clenched fist, as if he were preparing to punch the blue- clad villain… even though he was about twenty feet away. "What gives? What, you gonna slug me? I mean, I thought you were stupid enough, but this really…"

"Gum- Gum…"

Jango interrupted himself with a quizzical glance. "Wait, what'd you say..?"

"PISTOL!"

To the shock of everyone who wasn't hypnotized, Aijoo's whole arm shot forward, quickly closing the distance between itself and Jango's horrified face…

*POW!*

The arm- lengthening punch connected… with the solid body of Gummy, another muscular sailor, like Dampa. At his master's quick command, he had taken the blow in his stead. He was, however, sent crashing into the elegant (and expensive) walls of the auction house, knocked out in one hit.

Tetra took the opportunity to elbow Jango in the stomach, releasing her from his grip, and ran to join Aijoo as the remaining villagers began to surround them.

"Aijoo… how did you... do that?" "I ate the Gum- Gum Fruit, so I can stretch my body in all sorts of ways." Now Tetra was giving him quizzical looks. "Wait, what's a…"

"Sorry, but let's save that question for later, please." Aijoo interrupted, eying the now- irate hypnotist.

Then Jango shouted, "Everyone… ATTACK!"

**Hey, everybody, thanks for the reviews (even though I've only gotten two so far. Seriously, PLEASE REVIEW! Tell me how to improve the story, or something like that). Anyway, thanks to RIOSHO for reviewing (though I kindly ask that you curb your "French" in any future reviews, or the like, please). I think I might add that idea of yours of Tetra vs. the Killer Bees in the next chapter. Hope you've enjoyed this so far! Stay tuned and please review!**


	7. Chapter 7: Smackdown

**Hey, can I get some input from you guys? I've noticed that the number of hits per chapter gets lower as the chapters progress. Is this normal, or is there some way I can improve that, and my story in general, for that matter? Like maybe condensing some chapters? Just send me a PM or review if you want to give me an answer. Thanks! And with that… LET US BEGIN!**

"_Sheesh, this is harder than I'd thought it'd be."_ Aijoo mused as he sent Dampa soaring like a bird. Again.

The problem with the brainwashed villagers was that, while rather weak in comparison to Aijoo's Gum-Gum powers, were also very persistent. If they were knocked down, they simply picked themselves back up and charged again, as if they were merely pushed down instead of being slugged with enough force to crush stone. Tetra was having an even harder time with only a Bo staff to defend herself with, even with her skill at it.

Aijoo was slowly advancing to Jango's position, despite the waves of residents that kept crashing down on him like actual sea waves. Meanwhile, Tetra was attempting to make her way to her mother, but with less success.

Finally, however, Aijoo managed to break through.

"Oh crud…!" was all Jango could say before he ducked to barely avoid another Gum-Gum Pistol by a hair's width. He had no clue how to take this kid down.

Unless…

"Time to play the trump card! You guys! Six- Man formation!"

Dampa and Gummy immediately dashed to each other and stood side- by- side. Garrickson ran over to them, and was hoisted up onto their shoulders. The threesome waited as two more beefy sailors, Kane and Candy, made their way over to them, and, with surprising strength, were both lifted up by Garrickson, one on each arm. The two held themselves parallel to Garrickson's arms. A little kid with an insanely runny nose hopped up and seated himself on Garrickson's shoulders.

Aijoo didn't know what to make of this. How was this an improvement over the villagers he was just fighting earlier?

*WHAM!*

His question was answered by Garrickson using Kane as a fist, smashing him through the expensively carpeted second floor. Aijoo, however, just shrugged it off like the villagers.

He looked up from the first floor to face his opponent, only to have some slimy goo land on his forehead. Somewhat disgusted, he looked up again to notice that the humongous blob of snot that was hanging the little kid's nose earlier was missing.

Realization struck.

"EEEWWWWW! THAT'S SO GROSS!"

The sailors took advantage of the distraction by attempting to leap down and stomp the rubber boy into the ground; Aijoo, however, quickly dodged the assault.

"So that's the ace up your sleeve, huh?" said Aijoo, while trying to find somewhere to wipe off the disgusting substance. "Got that right, kid!" a now- confident Jango retorted, "I figured 5 muscle-bound guys would be a good counter to those freakish arms of yours." "As well as a literally snotty- nosed kid." the beige- haired pirate added, "And it's not just my arms that can stretch!" He bent down a bit.

"Gum-Gum… WHIP!"

He swung his leg out in a wide sweep, elongating to knock down the entire formation of sailors. They collapsed on the floor, but they reassembled themselves as quickly as they fell apart.

"Wonderful," thought Aijoo, "just wonderful."

Tetra was exhausted, as anyone fighting nonstop relentless hordes of hypnotized residents bent on destruction with only a Bo staff would be. But the path to her mother was finally clear of obstacles, and with a sigh of relief, forced her weary body towards Lady Akemi.

"MOM!"

"Sweetie!"

Her wealthy mother began making her way to her only daughter, when a child suddenly leaped out from underneath one of the sofa cushions and pulled her back down.

It was Ivan.

Jin pulled himself up from behind said sofa, while Jan crawled out from another cushion next to Ivan. All three of the Killer Bees wielded a pair of daggers, perfect weapons to complement their small size and agility. They brandished them as they took their fighting stance, while Tetra mimicked their actions with her Bo staff. They stood poised, staring each other down, their muscles tensed and ready to unleash everything they had, as beads of sweat from the anticipation formed on their faces… until a thought occurred to both parties.

Where was Jun- Roberto?

Sounds of struggling could be heard from underneath the couch, as the child in question was angrily clawing at the carpet trying to get out. His rotund figure, however, prevented him from performing his dramatic entrance. Tetra tried to stifle her laughter as the other threesome had to stop to pull him out. Lady Akemi took the opportunity to rush over to her child.

"Sweetie," she said, obviously concerned, "we have to leave. **Now**."

"Mom! We can't just leave Aijoo behind!"

"Sweetie, I'm quite sure he can take care of himself." As if to prove her point, Aijoo was then seen easily beating on the sailors with long- ranged attacks, having quickly learned the hard way that close- combat was not the best method of approach.

"But still…"

"**HEEYAHHHH!"**

Jun- Roberto was finally free from the sofa's grip, only to be catapulted by the combined forces of his three friends straight at the two Akemies. Tetra swiftly deflected the human projectile with a swing of her staff, sending him sailing into the nearby railing. Ironically, the poor boy ended up getting his head lodged in between the railing's bars, causing another fit of rage to ensue. The remaining Killer Bees commenced the process of rescuing him for a second time.

"Now you're mine!"

Taking advantage of their vulnerability, Tetra charged at Jin, preparing to strike him in the head. Jin, however, was already prepared himself, as he simply grabbed the staff with no intention of letting go. Taking a page from Dampa's book, Tetra flung him over her head, and then brought the raised weapon down on Ivan's skull.

Two down, one more to go.

Jan spun around, and dashed towards Tetra, but was stopped short by the blonde girl jabbing him in the stomach. As Jan stooped over in pain, Tetra swung her staff upwards, slamming him in the face and forcing him to stand straight again. Now with both Tetra's Bo staff and Jan's head raised, the younger Akemi crashed the former down on the latter like she had done with Ivan. In three powerful blows, Jan collapsed.

Tetra likewise collapsed on the ground, exhausted.

"Whew… Glad that's…"

"**RRRAAARRRGH!"**

The heiress jumped as, without warning, the air filled with the sounds of screaming rage and splintering wood.

Jun- Roberto had freed himself.

And he was **MAD**.

Ripping two of the wooden railing bars out of place, the pudgy punk rushed at Tetra, thrashing his new weapons like a madman. Tetra was on her feet at once, though she could hardly stay on them, as she blocked blow after forceful blow from the wrathful Killer Bee.

Aijoo was also having difficulty with his opponents, except they were continually evading his attacks by splitting up to increase mobility. Aijoo was getting rather annoyed at the lack of contact between his fists and their faces. He threw another punch at Kane, but missed yet again.

"For cryin' out loud, hit someone already!"

***POW!***

Aijoo looked up to see that his misfired fist had granted his wish in the form of a somewhat chubby kid with apparent had anger issues that, from the looks of things, was giving Tetra a hard time. Aijoo smiled; he was glad to be of service to her.

Then an idea crossed his mind.

As his arm started to come back, Aijoo grabbed the railing near Tetra, and let it pull him towards her at high speed, while holding his free arm out to the side.

"Gum-Gum… SCYTHE!"

Aijoo flew past his opponents while slamming them with his outstretched arm, smashing all of them into the wall. When the dust cleared, he brushed himself off and looked to see if Tetra was alright. The both of them then heard frantic footsteps heading for the door, and turned to see Jango making a run for it.

"HOLD IT!"

Jango, of course, ignored the two and dashed out the door. By the time Aijoo and Tetra had reached the door themselves, the moon walking hypnotist was at the end of the walkway. "Eat this, brats!" he growled as he sent one of his bladed pendulums their way. It missed its intended target, but it continued into the household, past Lady Akemi, and shattered a window, knocking over a candle in the process…

Which set the curtains on fire.

Immediately, the older of the two Akemies began searching for water, or anything to put out the growing mass of flames, but found nothing of the sort. She turned to ask her daughter and her friend for help…

But they were already gone.

Jango ran through the streets of Windfall Island, as if his life depended on it. He knew that there were some ships still docked at the harbor…

Meanwhile, Aijoo and Tetra were in hot pursuit. The rubber boy tried multiple times to grab the blue- coated fiend, but the latter was even more agile than the sailors he once controlled. The three soon reached the docks, with Jango clambering for the closest ship he could find: a fairly large fishing vessel. Aijoo foresaw this and attempted another Gum-Gum Scythe on Jango, grabbing the bow of the ship, but he missed. Before he could ram into said bow, he used his arm to vault over it, and ended up landing on the ship's deck. Aijoo grinned; they had him trapped now. Jango attempted to turn back, but was stopped cold by the sight of Tetra with her staff in hand. He searched frantically for some means of escape, but to no avail.

"Tetra!" called Aijoo, "Make sure he stays put!"

Before she or Jango could answer, Aijoo stretched out his arms to the sides and laid on his back, before latching on the sides of the ship. He then made himself stand on his head, his arms still clinging to the vessel.

"What on Earth...?" wondered Jango. Tetra was equally confused. What was he up to?

With a grunt, Aijoo kicked both of his feet high into the air. They arched, and then rapidly descended in Jango's direction. He tried to escape, but Tetra was there to prevent his leaving, staying true to her friend's instructions. The hypnotist looked up to see the soles of the rubber boy's feet, and dropped to the ground in a fetal position, waiting for the impact.

***BOOOOOOOM!***

Jango cringed, but was surprised when he didn't feel any pain. He raised his head to see that, instead of Aijoo's feet planting themselves into his face, they had planted themselves into the sandy shore not two feet away from him, his legs forming an arch from Aijoo's location to Jango's. Jango grinned in both relief and pride.

"HA! You missed!" he taunted.

Aijoo said nothing, but rather began to retract his legs. Because they were stuck in the ground, his body instead followed the path of his arched legs, stretching his arms further. As his body reached the arch's peak, the arms began to pull the ship out of the water, until the entire vessel was also following the arch. Both Tetra's and Jango's jaws dropped as the full extent of the attack was realized.

"Tetra," barked Aijoo, "move it!"

She immediately obeyed, leaving the hypnotist to suffer the young pirate's wrath. As the ship plunged down on Jango, Aijoo yelled:

"Gum-Gum… ARCHWAY!"

***CRAAAASSSHHH!***

About a mile away out on the sea, a fisherman perked up. He was sure for a second that he had heard the sounds of twisting metal, splintering wood, and shattering glass, but just shrugged it off and returned to his fishing.

As the dust cleared, Aijoo walked out from the wreckage, smiling as if nothing had happened. "You okay, Tetra?" "…Huh? Oh… yeah, I'm fine… uh, thanks." she replied. She would have done so sooner, but the raw, destructive power held by this seemingly harmless soul… it awed her, to say the least.

Aijoo was all smiles now.

"Good to hear! Now, c'mon, let's head back your place. We won't get any sleep out here, y'know!" Tetra nodded in agreement, and as they turned to head back home, Aijoo saw a warm glow over at the auction house.

"Aw, man!" he groaned, "The sun's already up!"

"That can't be right." replied Tetra, "It couldn't have already been that long…"

Her eyes then widened with horror.

It wasn't the sun.

Tetra immediately bolted for the house, leaving a confused Aijoo behind.

"Hey, Tetra, where ya going? Wait up!"

She didn't stop, but instead kept on running, praying to the Ancient of Days that it wasn't what she thought it was.

**Chapter 7, finally here! For those who are wondering, the runny- nosed kid is Zill from Outset Island. Anyway, stay tuned and please review!**


	8. Chapter 8: Decisions

**Hey, everyone! Sorry for the late update, due partially to unexpected stuff to do and partially to laziness, not to mention the TOTALLY AWESOME mission trip I took to Chicago. Heh, go figure. Also, what gives? No one sent any suggestions! C'mon, guys, help me out here! But anyway… LET US BEGIN!**

Tetra's fear was confirmed.

She stood before the blazing edifice that was once her home. Massive tongues of orange and red leapt out from the windows, and the walls could seen crumbling under the intense heat of the inferno. The villagers had apparently awoken from their trance and were doing their best to put out the flames. Tears began streaming down Tetra's face.

"Sweetie!"

The wealthy girl's golden- haired head whipped up and turned to see her mother running towards her, arms wide open. She tackled her daughter with an embrace, and stayed there for a moment before they broke apart. "M- mom," stuttered Tetra, still crying, "w- what h- happened?" "Jango." replied Lady Akemi, "He knocked over a candle when you two were chasing him, apparently by accident. I managed to get all the villagers out before it got too bad. It was… difficult at some points." She looked particularly at the burly sailors Garrickson and Gummy, who were carrying water barrels as quickly as they could. Suddenly, panting could be heard from behind the two Akemies; it was Aijoo.

"Hoo… hah… whew, Tetra, you're a fast runner…" the rubber boy cut himself short as he realized what was going on. "AAAHHH! THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE!" Promptly, he joined the sailors he had pulverized earlier in gathering water barrels for what was left of the once proud mansion. However, as time passed, it was evident that the flames were growing faster than the villagers could keep up with. Tetra was bawling in her mother's embrace as pieces of her house- and only source of income- collapsed.

It tore at Aijoo's heartstrings to see her like this. He wished he could stop the pain, but right now, the best he could do was putting out the fire; the comforting would have to wait.

The problem with the fire was that most of it was on the second floor; that was where it started, after all. Parts of the floor had collapsed, blocking the way inside and leaving the makeshift firefighters unable to reach the blazes from the ground. In an attempt to bridge the gap, the residents of Windfall Island were trying to get on the roof of the nearby Chu Jelly Juice shop, but even then, there was too much distance for people to pour water on the fire. Aijoo desperately tried to think up a solution, but nothing came to mind…

"Mommy, I don't wanna drink it! It tastes gross!"

"Well, you wouldn't have to if you didn't let your nose run so much. Now here…"

"No! I don't wanna!"

Aijoo snapped out his thoughts and looked to see none other than the "literally snotty- nosed kid" he met earlier, complete with another blob of mucus hanging from his nose. An older woman, apparently his "Mommy," was attempting to spoon- feed him what appeared to be medicine. After a few tries, she finally managed to shovel it into his mouth, only for him to spit it right back out in disgust. "Zill, for the last time, take the medicine, or I'll..!"

Aijoo's mind clicked. _"That's it!"_

Grabbing a nearby barrel, he began gulping down its contents at once. One of the helping residents, couldn't help but notice this, and so attempted to understand the necessity of this action in light of current circumstances.

"Hey, kid what on earth do you think you're doing? This ain't time for a break! Besides, we need… that… wa…ter?"

He was shocked to find that Aijoo's body was quickly swelling like a balloon, getting bigger… and bigger… and bigger… and bigger, until he had drunk the entire thing. Casting the barrel aside, he took a deep breath and began blasting the water out of his mouth like a jet stream. The villagers were stunned, to say the least. After a momentary pause, the aforementioned villager came to from his shock and looked around. "Hey, what gives? The kid's doing this all by himself! Help him out!" They obeyed without more ado and continued to collect water, except that now they were handing it to Aijoo. Slowly, but surely, the fire began to recede, and soon billows of smoke replaced the flames.

Aijoo gazed at the remains of the auction house. It was now barely recognizable, as there was hardly anything to recognize to begin with, other than the foundation and some stubs of wall. The residents entered into a moment of silence as the mansion's former occupants mourned over their loss. Partaking in the quietude, Aijoo walked over to Tetra and laid one of his rubber arms on her shuddering shoulders, receiving a hug and a whispered "thank you" from the latter.

"Alright, everyone, settle down, settle down." ordered an elderly gentleman in a hoarse, raspy voice. He was an ancient- looking, somewhat shriveled old man dressed in a gray cloak that reached down to his feet. His bald scalp reflected the light of the early morning sunrise as he stood atop a large crate that served as a podium, with a young man stand at his side. In front of the podium sat the entire population of Windfall Island. The villagers were gathered at the large, grassy field in front of the bomb shop; the two Akemies and Aijoo sat at the front of the group, closest to the crate. Aijoo still had his arm around Tetra, in his desire to comfort her. Thankfully it seemed to work; her sobbing had been reduced to sniffles. The old man coughed an "ahem" to gain his audience's attention, and began speaking again in the same raspy tone.

"Now, the first order of business of this here meetin' is to figure out what we're gonna do about this… uh…"

"Dilemma." the young man by the crate filled in.

"Ah, that's the word. Now, about this whole dilemmna…"

"It's 'dilemMA,' Mayor, not 'dilemmNA.'" the assistant corrected.

"SHADDUP, WHIPPERSNAPPER! DID I ASK YOU TO CORRECT ME?"

"Actually, Mayor, you did. About a week ago, I believe…"

"What? I don't remember that…"

"Well, Mayor, you **are** getting older…"

"SHADDUP! I ain't that old! Now… wait, what I was just doing?"

The assistant gave an exasperated sigh. "You were talking about the dilemma at hand, Mayor."

"Ah, yes, that's right! We were talkin' about that… word. Now, none of us here have enough rupees to buy a new house, not even a confounded cottage. Now, we could if we pooled our money, but like I said, it'd only be a cottage: not exactly the best place to have an auction house. Now this here wouldn't be no problem if it weren't fer the fact that we get a lot of tourists 'cuz of the auction house, and tourism's a big part of our here industry. So, anybody got some ideas?"

A dirty hand shot up above the crowd's heads. It was a beggar who often pleaded to anyone who would listen. His equally poor daughter, Maggie, stood beside him.

"We could host a charity for the homeless… **all** the homeless…" he hinted.

"Yeah, but that would take too long. We need a faster form of… uh…"

"Revenue."

"SHADDUP! THERE YOU GO AGAIN!"

"Just doing my job, Mayor…"

The old mayor huffed as another hand was raised, this time by a young man dressed in a white jumpsuit with long strips of fabric hanging from the sleeves. He had a long strip of tape, or something of the sort, across the bridge of his nose. "Yes, Tott?" The elderly mayor pointed to him. "We could hold a dance competition…"

"No, Tott. We've been over this over this before."

"But…"

"No buts!"

The white- clad dancer hung his head as his excitement fell like a shot- down Keese. The mayor sighed in frustration; this was going nowhere.

"Does anyone have any GOOD ideas?" the mayor asked.

There was no answer for a full minute until, suddenly a hand shot up in the front row. It went up with such force that it actually stretched a bit before it snapped back in place. The mayor was a little taken aback, but, desperate for a decent plan of action, picked the hand's owner. "Yes?"

"I could just get the money for you." answered a cheery twelve- year old voice. The boy who just spoke had a huge grin plastered on his face. Tetra, who was sitting next to him, turned in shock.

"Mind explaining how you're gonna do that?" probed the mayor.

"Well, Mayor… uh…"

"Gezarre."

"Oh, thanks. Anyway, Mayor Gezarre, since I'm a pirate, I can get those rupees pretty quick… so you can leave that part to me!" he replied, that large smile never leaving his face.

The waterworks in Tetra's eyes were starting up again. "Aijoo… you'd really do that?"

"Sure, anything for a friend."

Needless to say, the entire group was touched by this noble display of selflessness for someone the boy hardly knew for more than. But there was just one problem…

"How're you gonna get anywhere without a boat?"

Aijoo's smile drooped. "Oh… yeah. That's a problem."

After a moment of consideration, an older woman with a blue jacket and pink hair stood up. "You can borrow mine for a while. I won't be sailing to my cabana for a while, anyway…" "Really?" cried an excited Aijoo, "Wow, thanks… uh…"

"Mrs. Marie."

"Thanks. So where is it?" asked the rubber boy.

"It should be down at the docks. Here, let me take you there."

As Aijoo, Tetra, and Lady Akemi were promptly led by the gracious woman, Tetra quickly explained to her beige- haired friend that Mrs. Marie was the town schoolteacher, and that she owned a cabana somewhere out in the ocean. Aijoo was giddy with excitement… until they reached the docks. That was when Mrs. Marie suddenly screamed in horror.

"MY BOAT! IT'S RUINED!"

She ran over to the ruins of the same ship that Aijoo had "borrowed" from last night to finish off Jango. The distraught teacher fell to her knees in front of the wreckage and began to weep.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SHIP?"

Aijoo sweat- dropped as the two Akemies turned to give him looks. "Heh heh… my bad."

"Having a bit of trouble, are we?"

The voice's owner was a lanky, bald man wearing goggles and a red coat. Tetra recognized him immediately. "Oh, hey, Doc Bandam. How's it goin'?" "Quite well, thank you." he replied. He then paused and put his hand to his chin, as if in deep thought. "… I suppose I could let you borrow my ship instead…"

"Seriously? Whew, thanks. I thought…"

"On one condition."

Aijoo's cheerful expression disappeared in the wake of his curiosity.

"Now, normally, I personally sail to Pawprint Isle to obtain Chu Jelly, but… I don't like leaving my shop unprotected… so you can do it for me!"

"Fine by me!" said Aijoo, "Show me the way; I'm good to go!"

Tetra stood silently nearby, then took a deep breath…

"Hey, uh… Aijoo?" He turned to face her. "Yeah?" "Um, I was wondering… could I… come with you?"

Aijoo stood there looking slightly dumbfounded. "Really? You wanna come?" "Yeah…" answered the blonde Akemi, "I've always wanted to sail the seas and stuff… besides, you'll need a navigator, won't you?"

"You're a navigator?"

"A pretty good one, I'd say. So… what's the verdict?"

"Are you kiddin'? Of course you can come!"

Tetra's eyes widened. "Seriously? Awesome…! Oh, wait, I gotta ask my mom."

Oh, yeah, that's true. Don't wanna just ditch her or whatever."

"Yeah… I'll be back in a sec, okay?"

And with that, the wealthy heiress walked over to her beloved mother. Surely, after all that had happened, she would consent… right?


	9. Chapter 9: The Beginning of a Dream

**Hey, guys, what gives? I've only got a few hits for chapter 8, not even above ten hits. Where'd everyone go? You don't want me to... DISCONTINUE, do you? I'm not saying I will, but... if there's only, like, seven people actually reading this, then there's not really that much point in going on. So help me out! I've allowed anonymous reviews now, so those of you hiding in the shadows can make your voice heard! YAAAAYYY... yeah... anyway... LET US BEGIN!**

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, NO?" screamed Tetra. She was beyond flabbergasted at her mother's answer.

"Look, sweetie, I realize that Aijoo has helped us greatly, but he's no older than you are. I'm just not sure how capable he is of leading a crew."

"But, MOOOM, how do you expect him to get anywhere without a navigator? If he already had one, he could've avoided that storm!"

""But as captain, he makes the decisions, and I'm not sure how well he can do that..."

And so they bantered back and forth, witnessed only by the very subject of the argument himself. To say he was depressed over the whole matter would have been an understatement. He was hoping that Tetra would be able to come, but... then this...

"...But it's not fair! You promised you'd let me join a pirate crew!"

"Yes, I did... if I felt they were trustworthy. Now I know Aijoo is wonderful to have around, but... I just don't want you to get hurt..."

There was silence between the two. Despite the short time frame, it felt like years to them. After a moment of consideration, Lady Akemi knelt in front of her sniffling daughter and put one of her gentle hands on her shoulder.

"I suppose I COULD make a deal..."

The words had hardly left her mouth before the faces of both Tetra and Aijoo were crowding her own, plastered with more glee than Lady Akemi thought was possible. After backing away from the awkward closeness, she resumed her graceful air and continued.

"Don't get excited... I'm not changing my mind..."

Their faces drooped.

"... yet..."

Their faces immediately perked up again.

"Now, like I said, I'm willing to make a deal." She paused for a moment. "I won't let my sweetie join now... but... if you do well as a pirate, I will allow it. How does that sound?" "Sounds good to me!" chirped Aijoo. "Just you watch. I'll be the best pirate captain you'll ever see!"

After a half- hearted agreement from Tetra, Aijoo hopped into Doc's boat, ready to begin the journey of a lifetime. After a thorough explanation of nautical navigation from Dampa (through which Aijoo simply nodded and smiled, having no idea what he was talking about), the rubber boy hopped up on the ship's deck, and, as he set sail, Aijoo looked back to see a dejected Tetra, waving him off on his budding adventure. Aijoo grinned.

"Don't worry, Tetra! I'll come back! I promise!"

His assuring words gave the blond Akemi some comfort. She smiled meekly as the wooden craft slowly began its voyage into the Great Sea, and watched it leave until she could no longer see it.

_Elsewhere in the Great Sea..._

A huge, towering ship, easily standing out with its pink color scheme and swan masthead, plowed through the wreckage of its latest victim, a cargo vessel carrying all sorts of exotic treasures. The crew members on board used grappling hooks to rake in the spoils, while ignoring pleas for help from the survivors. They were all being supervised by an extremely large, obese woman wielding an equally large spiked club. The woman, however, was not the only one watching them.

High up in the clear blue sky, a birdlike man, a Rito, scanned the decks of the massive pirate ship. This was bad; this was the fifth one down this week alone. The trading routes were being seriously disrupted, and there was little to be done about it, save to warn any approaching vessels and Dragon Roost Island of the danger posed by malevolent pirates... like this one. The responsibility of such a task happened to rest on the aforementioned bird- man, his sharp eyes always watching.

Suddenly, the Rito noticed some scrambling on the deck near the gargantuan captain. He squinted... and then widened his eyes in fear.

He had been spotted.

Immediately, he spun around to escape, planning on misleading them to some random island. It would be horrible if he ended up taking them to Dragon Roost Island; the last thing they needed was a pirate attack.

Meanwhile, the obese captain narrowed her eyes at the fleeing Rito and growled uder her breath. THEM again. They had been wreaking havoc on her profits; thanks to those winged freaks, she was losing the element of surprise. As her rage began to boil over, she hoisted up her club...

"Miss Alvida, what are your orders...?" said the crew member who had spotted the feathered spy. His superior said nothing. "... um... Miss Alvida?" Suddenly, in one swift motion, she threw her weapon straight at the pesky bird- man, who by now was a good distance away from them.

The Rito was becoming rather uneasy. The pirates had made no indication whatsoever of pursuit, something abnormal for any pirate. Ritos typically carried valuable information regarding competing pirates and new trading routes, so for a pirate to not hunt them down would be he turned around to see what would cause them to act otherwise.

The last thing he saw before everything went black was a humongous spiked club careening straight at him.

**Yeah, I know, short chapter, but this officially concludes the first arc! Next up... well, I'll keep the next destination a surprise. Hopefully, the amount of hits will pick up; again, there's not much point to writing this if only a few are reading, so... HELP ME OUT PLEASE!**


	10. Chapter 10: Confrontation

_Elsewhere on the ocean..._

Aijoo leaned against the boat's railing, gazing at the unending expanse of crystal blue water as his newly acquired ship sailed westward to a place called Dragon Roost Island. The shopkeeper named Zunari had recommended the island as an ideal place to began his career. The very name excited him; maybe he'd see a real dragon there!

At the same time, however, he was somewhat disappointed that Tetra wasn't around to share the fun. He hoped he didn't have to do anything extraordinary to appease her mother; he didn't want Tetra to miss out on any of the action during his adventure. But of course, being Aijoo, he couldn't stay sad for long; he promised her he'd come back, and besides, he had work to do!

… At least, he WOULD have work to do when he actually got to Dragon Roost Island. Until then, all he could really do was make sure the boat continued on in the right direction. So there he sat, excitement welling up inside of his chest.

Soon, however, he could no longer contain it, and when he could no longer hold in, it came out with a powerful-

***THUNK!***

Aijoo's head perked up. Strange. Since when did excitement sound like that?

It was when he felt the boat rock violently did Aijoo realize that the source of the sound was external in nature. Turning to the bow of the vessel (as he had been facing starboard), he realized that, in his failure to pay attention, he had rammed the side of a VERY large ship with an odd color scheme of pink, the bow of it adorned with a large swan masthead. It also had a brand new decoration in the form of a large, gaping hole in the side, courtesy of Aijoo. He immediately began panicking; maybe if he snuck away, he'd be gone by the time they noticed...

"HEY!"

Crap.

Aijoo looked up to see an older man looking down on him (literally and figuratively, it seemed), presumably one of the members of the crew. His angry scowl quickly turned into a look of horror when he saw the damage done.

"WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO TO MISS ALVIDA'S SHIP?"

Aijoo cringed. Oh, he was SO in trouble now...

"Um... sorry. I wasn't really looking where I was going..."

"I can see THAT!" the crewman angrily yelled, "Do you have any idea how long repairs are gonna take? Probably days!"

"I'm sorry, really, I am. I'll pay you back someday; it'll be an IOU. How's that sound?"

"I got a better idea," said the crewman, "how 'bout YOU fix it?"

"Me?"

"YES, YOU!" the man roared, "you broke it, so you oughta fix it! I'M definitely not doin' it; I got enough crud as it is." he complained, "So you better get your carcass on that deck, and if you don't, I'll be sure that's the LAST thing you do!"

Aijoo tilted his head, confused.

"Wait, if I'm NOT doing it, how can it be the last thing I do?"

"Well, uh... j-just shut up and do it already!" And with that, he left, abruptly ending the conversation.

The beige-haired pirate sighed. "Might as well get started..."

**XXXXXXXX**

The same grouchy crewman made his way back to where he originally was: a hammock that hung between the mast and some of the rigging. It was his personal place to laze around when he didn't have anything to do, which was rare, considering that the obese club-wielding captain known as Miss Alvida was a complete slavedriver. As he promptly laid back down in the softness of sun-warmed fabric to continue his nap, some of his nearby crew mates, who had sent him to investigate the noise of splintering wood in the first place, realized he had returned.

"So? What was it, Geza?"

The man named such scowled, wanting to capture whatever moments of sleep he could before the captain came up with something for him and the rest of the crew to do, but knowing that they would likely bother him until he satisfied their curiosity, he relented.

"Some stupid kid made a hole in the side of the ship-"

"WHAT?" interrupted one of the brawny sailors, "Geza, what are you doin' HERE then? You're just gonna let him go?"

"No," came the curt reply, "I'm making him patch it up. I'm sick of constantly repairing this boat. I may be the shipwright, but I need days off too, y'know."

"There's just one problem with your little plan," said a lanky member of the crew, in a rather snobbish fashion, "How do you expect him to do the work if you're not supervising him, eh?"

The sound of hammer hitting nails and wood could suddenly be heard from the site of the crash.

"That's how." replied a smug Geza. The lanky man snorted.

"So, how's our feathered friend doing?" asked the shipwright.

"He's out now." answered the brawny fellow. Immediately, the two other sailors whipped their heads around to look at him.

"Out? As in outside?"

"Out cold." he corrected himself "I had to rough him up a little to shut him up." His friends released their bated breath in the form of a "whew." "Sheesh, Mora, you scared us there for a second. If that happened, Miss Alvida would surely-" A convulsive shudder interrupted him at the thought of the typical punishment administered by said captain.

A literal face-to-face encounter with her club.

Speaking of the captain...

"GEZA! GET OVER HERE **NOW**"

The startled shipwright tumbled out of his haven of slumber and scrambled for the upper decks. Obviously, she wanted something...

**XXXXXXXX**

At this point, Aijoo KNEW he was doing something wrong.

He had, somehow, not only failed to repair the hole he had made, but had instead succeeded in creating MORE of them, three to be exact. He groaned; he'd be here forever if he didn't do something! Maybe a break would help...

As he laid on the hard wooden floor, comfortably cushioned by his own rubber body, he let out another groan, only in a significantly deeper voice that he was quite sure he did not possess. The groan came once more, and it was then that Aijoo realized that it was coming from his left. When he turned to face the source of the noise, he was shocked at what he saw.

Locked within an iron cage and wrapped in steel chains, sat a dark-skinned man who appeared to be in his thirties, with a oddly beak-like nose and a face covered in bruises and cuts; Aijoo immediately recognized him as a member of the Rito tribe; he'd often seen them at mailboxes. The Rito shifted slightly, eliciting a grunt of pain.

Aijoo immediately rushed over to him. "Hey, you okay, mister?"

The man looked up, a somewhat surprised expression on his face; apparently, he was not expecting visitors. "Well... I've been better." he said. "Um... what're you doin' here?"

"Oh, me?" asked Aijoo, "Well, I'm fixing up that hole over there." He pointed at the mangled wall of splintered wood and bent nails... at least, what was left of it, and grinned sheepishly. "Well... I'm trying to, anyway."

"So you're the kid who rammed the ship, eh?"

Aijoo chuckled. "Yeah..."

"Well, as much as I admire that you're taking responsibility, you might want to skip this one time."

Aijoo tilted his head, confused. "Huh?"

"You're on the vessel of one of the feared pirates in the Great Sea... 'Iron Mace' Alvida, famed for her massive strength -and body- and ruthlessly pulverizing her opponents with her giant spiked club."

The beige-haired captain's face was blank for a moment...

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

Another pause...

"AWESOME!"

The Rito just looked at him like he had grown a second head. "Um... what?"

"This is a perfect way to start out! My first opponent: a famous pirate!"

Apparently, the caged bird-man did not share his enthusiasm. "Are you kidding me? You'll get slaughtered! She'll beat you to a pulp! There's no way you can-"

He didn't finish his sentence, because he was now talking to empty air; Aijoo had already left.

"...HEY! AT LEAST GET ME OUTTA HERE! HEY! HELLO...? Aw, great..."

**XXXXXXXX**

Geza was NOT in a good mood right now.

Apparently, Alvida was none too pleased with his method of dealing with the young man who had wrecked the side of her ship, and instead wanted a professional shipwright (a.k.a. Geza) to fix it, instead of the FREAKING IDIOT who actually CAUSED the wreck in the first place. So much for his day off. He was making his way down below deck to check on the brat, grumbling all the way, when, upon hearing what sounded like someone coming his way, he looked around the corner of the hall-

***WHAM!***

-resulting in a red-and-blue blur named Aijoo plowing straight into him. Instead of being slowed down, the young pirate captain simply continued and dashed on up the stairs, burst onto the upper decks and yelled...

"C'mon, Alvida, bring it! I'll take you on!"

...only to be see 184 angry-looking crewmen turn to face the source of the disturbance.

"Eh heh... maybe not the best way to make an entrance..."

The crew started gathering around him, bloodthirsty gleams in their eyes and sharp swords in their hands. The rubber boy quickly got into a fighting stance...

*thunk* *thunk* *thunk*

The sound of VERY heavy footsteps made its way across the deck, until it stopped dead center of the deck. The source was a humongous, obese woman wearing a blue coat over a pink shirt, a feathered hat, and carrying a spiked metal club. She looked ticked off, like someone had woken her a bit too early.

"Who the heck are you, runt?"

Aijoo's eyes widened.

"Alvida..."

**XXXXXXXX**

**Hey, everyone! Sorry this took so long... I have no excuse, really... Anyway, hope you like it! If you guys (or girls) have any suggestions, I'm listening! So...**

**Stay tuned and please review!**


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